Forest Grove Library lets youngsters read with an Angel at their side

Matthew Waters, 8, reads to Angel, a three-year-old apricot standard poodle, during his Monday evening 30-minute session of "Read to the Dogs" with Barbara Dunnette at the Forest Grove City Library.Michal Thompson/Forest Grove Leader

Eight-year-old Matthew Waters feels more comfortable around Angel the poodle than around most humans. The dog, he says, is his friend. And who can challenge the assertion when Angel snuggles up next to Waters during story time, occasionally pawing his leg and licking his hand.

Angel might not understand the words, but she is listening to the story.

And she doesn't protest when Waters, a third-grader at Harvey Clarke Elementary, struggles to pronounce a word or gets sidetracked telling stories about his family cat or commenting on the relative softness of Angel's fur today.

"She's awesome," Waters said on a recent evening as he awaited Angel's arrival for their story-time date at the Forest Grove City Library. "I love her."

Angel is the Forest Grove library's resident therapy dog. He visits weekly, on Monday nights from 6:30 to 8 p.m., to read one-on-one with struggling readers who schedule special appointments with Angel and her handler, Barbara Dunnette.

The poodle has heard Waters read through nearly the entire "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series. On a recent visit, the pair tackled the "Dog Days" installment.

"Hi, Angel!" Waters called when the dog and Dunnette walked into the room. Dunnette, a retired Forest Grove librarian and certified therapy dog handler with Pet Partners, began bringing Angel to the library in January.

Forest Grove's is one of countless Read to the Dogs programs to crop up in libraries across the nation in recent years in response to increasing evidence that pets can positively impact early learners. Other Washington County libraries, including Hillsboro, Cedar Mill and Beaverton, have similar programs.

With only four time slots available each week, the program is growing too popular for Angel to spend time with every interested reader. Librarian Linda Stiles Taylor said the program fills up every week and has a wait list.

"There's just much more warmth and incentive in this kind of format than being in a classroom with a book and a group of your peers watching you stumble," Stiles Taylor said. "Some kids need that."

Research backs her up.

A 2010 study from the University of California, Davis measured third-grade students' reading fluency growth over the course of 10 weekly 15-minute sessions with a therapy dog. On average, their fluency improved by 12 percent over the course of the sessions. Study participants who didn't read to dogs showed no improvement. Perhaps more telling, 75 percent of parents in the study reported their child had begun to read more confidently and more often. A similar study at Tufts University also confirmed the value of dogs as reading partners.

What is it about the dog that makes reading easier? Matthew Waters' mother, Ashleigh Waters, 40, said it's having a friend who couldn't judge you if they tried. Waters is a regular at the Forest Grove program.

"He hates to read at home," Ashleigh Waters said. "But with the dog, he opens up. Almost immediately, his reading scores went up."

Dunnette said being close to dogs has been shown to calm people and lower blood pressure, so students relax and are able to concentrate more intensely on the book.

"Even in one session, I notice the change in the kids," said Dunnette, who also brings Angel to student readers in Gaston and Hillsboro.

While his eyes scanned the page of his book, Matthew petted Angel, scratched her chin and flopped her ears. Occasionally, he stopped reading to make sure Angel was still listening. When the dog cocked her head to acknowledge the pause, Matthew smiled approvingly.

"She likes me better now," Waters told Dunnette, as Angel dozed with her back against his leg. "She used to just sit by you. Now she cuddles up to me."

When the session ends, Waters gets a certificate and the chance to feed Angel a biscuit. He'll be back next week, ready with another book to share with his furry friend.

"He adores her," Ashleigh Waters said. "He swears she is listening to every word he says."